Red Wings Deadline History

The Detroit Red Wings approach another NHL trade deadline with no intent on forcing a deal to make a splash. Minor as a potential deal is, it's still fun to see Detroit get into the fun too. Detroit fans haven't really had anything big happen at the trade deadline for a few years now, with the last notable trade being trading a couple draft picks to Los Angeles for Brad Stuart in 2008 before their Cup title.

Last year they made two trades, sending Kris Newbury to the New York Rangers for Jordan Owens and getting Riley Armstrong from Calgary for Andy Delmore. The main reason was to shake up the Wings farm team, the Grand Rapids Griffins. We might see something similar this season as well. With Detroit only having around 600K in cap space, GM Ken Holland says that they could only add a role player, and he wouldn't pull the trigger just to make a deal. Detroit already has a ton of depth guys in Darren Helm, Justin Abdelkader, Kris Draper, Drew Miller and Patrick Eaves.

So instead of mopping about the Wings not making a move, let's look back at some of their hits and misses at the trade deadlines in the past.

Kyle Calder, Mathieu Schneider and Robert Lang were all deadline pick-ups by Detroit

HITS:

1. Mathieu Schneider for Sean Avery, Maximm Kuznetsov, 1st/2nd Round Picks
-Kuznetsov turned into nothing, Avery was a dressing room nightmare and the1st round pick turned out to be Jeff Tambellini, a decent player who is 4th line material. Schneider, on the other hand, played with Nicklas Lidstrom and had a cannon shot from the point. Schneider couldn't help the wings to the Cup, but in passing he did. Schneider signed with Anaheim in the offseason (in 2008), and the Wings replaced him with Brian Rafalski, who has turned out to be twice as good as Schnedier, maybe even more. Schneider was on the downhill after leaving Detroit, Rafalski was in his prime. I never thought I'd say this, but thank God Detroit drafted Sean Avery!

2. Brad Stuart for a 2nd/4th Round Pick
-Stuart was one of the top three defenceman sought after at the 08 deadline, and the fact that the Wings nabbed him for a 2nd and 4th was a steal in my opinion. Detroit drafts better with 5th-7th round picks anyways.

3. Larry Murphy for future considerations (Toronto never received anything in return)
-Murphy teamed up with Nicklas Lidstrom to form the top defensive pairing in the NHL. Murphy won two cups with the Wings after being acquired.

4. Chris Chelios for 2 1st Round Picks (Adam Munro and Steve McCarthy)
-Chelios was in his prime already, and got better with age. Only when he was about 43 you could see his game start to deteriorate. Chelly halped the Wings to the Cup in 02 and was a supporting role in 08. Leadership goes a long way.

MISSES:

1. Robert Lang for Tomas Fleischmann, 1st/4th
-although this trade was made prior to the deadline in 2003/04, I needed to include this deal. I was actually going to put it in the Hit category, and then found out something shocking that has me wondering if all these websites are lying to me. I remember this deal. The day it happened Lang was leading the league in points and I was at some hotel in Toronto for a hockey tournament. Losing Fleischmann, a top prospect was a fair trade at the time, and who knows what could have happened with the picks? The fourth turned out to be Luke Lynes. The first turned out to be....

Mike Green......I never knew this until today. So looking at this deal now, the Wings have nothing from Lang, while the Caps have Green and Scott Hannan (traded for Fleischmann) currently. Looks lopsided now, doesn't it?

2. Kyle Calder for Jason Williams (three way trade)
-Calder was terrible as a Red Wing. Although Detroit made it to the Conference Finals that year (07), he never contibuted as much as Williams. I always thought that trade destroyed Jason WIlliams' career, as he had a 50+ point season as a Red Wing. He hasn't come close since, and Calder walked as a free agent. Apparently they thought Calder was the next Dan Cleary.

3. Jiri Slegr for Yuri Butsayev and a 3rd Rounder (2002)
-Slegr was supposed to be a good defenceman. Playing those old NHL video games made me think the Wings were picking up Lidstrom's twin. This was not the case. Slegr played 8 games with Detroit, getting one assist. And what really grinded my gears was the fact he played in Game 5 against Carolina. For what? He sat the whole playoffs, no one was hurt and Detroit didn;t owe him anything. Poor Mathieu Dandenault had to sit out because of him.

4. Todd Bertuzzi for Shawn Matthias and conditional draft pick
-Bertuzzi was also a project. Holland saw an ex-50 goal scorer and pounced at the opportunity. At the time Matthias was a highly touted prospect, and giving him up for a bum with a bad back and legal troubles seemed insane. At the time it was a bad trade. It doesn't look like it now though. In fact, Detroit seems to have edged the Panthers in this one. Matthias is in the minors with Florida while Bertuzzi came back to Detroit and is having a great couple of seasons with them.

NOTABLES:

-Ulf Samuelsson for a 2nd/3rd: Samuelsson was a tough defenceman who's knee on knee hits always had forwards looking over their shoulder him
-Wendel Clark and a 6th for Kevin Hodson and a 2nd: What's the best way to boost fan attendance in Detroit? Get Leafs fans to come over the border to watch Wendel
-Dmitri Mironov for Jamie Pushor and a 4th: could have had 2 Cups if he didn't leave for Washington after only one.
-Jamie Macoun for a 4th: Macoun was a reliable defensive defenceman, winning the Cup the year he came to Detroit (98)
-Kirk Maltby for Dan McGillis: Malts formed the Grind Line with D-Mac and Drapes, delivered 4 Stanley Cups

Detroit won't be able to swing any huge deals like these because of their salary cap situation, but don't be surprised if make some minor moves.

I heard on the rumour mill today that they were looking at Mike Smith of the Lightning. This is not good news if you are a Wings fan. Following the Lightning and watching Smith struggle was enough for me, thank you very much. Quite honestly I would rather keep Joey MacDonald.

I would also like to squash any rumours of Tomas Vokoun coming to Detroit. Any Wings fan who thinks this would be possible has their heart in the right place, but their CBA brain doesn't exist. Like I said, there is absolutely no room for Vokoun's massive salary, plus the Wings aren;t giving up any players, which Panthers GM Dale Tallon apparently wants back, along with draft picks/prospects. We just have to wait and see if Jimmy Howard can step up in the playoffs this time, and having a healthy Chris Osgood will help as well.

Notes:
-Valterri Filppula is close to returning for Detroit after being sidelined for about two weeks with a knee injury.
-Osgood is expecting to start practicing within a week with the team
-Mike Modano aims to play against Buffalo for the first time since severing tendons in his wrist

2 Comments

Jiri Slegr played in game 5 of the finals in 2002 b/c Jiri Fischer was suspended for crosschecking Tommy Westlund in the mouth in game 4. Slegr being inserted into the lineup had nothing to do with Dandenault.